This type of garment treatment apparatus is often used for laundering garments and it is then convenient to provide both cleaning or processing and finishing treatment which may be carried out in one or more cabinets positioned along the length of a conveyor circuit which is often a closed circuit. The garments are fed onto and unloaded from the conveyor at loading and unloading stations, respectively, which are located externally of the cabinets, by for example gravity or power-operated devices, the hangers and garments being arranged to travel to and from the loading and unloading stations and through the treatment cabinets with the greatest width of garment, i.e. shoulder to shoulder, normal to the direction of advance of conveyor.
In order to restrict the loss of heat, airflow or other processing medium from within the cabinet to the surrounding environment, it is economically desirable to pass the garment on its hanger or equivalent support into and out from a cabinet through the narrowest practical aperture which can then be provided with the most efficient sealing "door". However, whilst within the cabinet, the garments are desirably relatively closely packed with the hangers parallel to one another so that the size of the cabinets is not too large.
The invention has therefore been made with these points in mind.